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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chest — a box
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. mine — for digging
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. clip — a video
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. stem — to come from
  18. charge — electricity
  19. charge — a price
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. charge — in control
  24. mine — belonging to me

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com